Carlos Hazday

@chris191070 Thanks, Chris- I think it'll take a while for Ritchie to realize how lucky he is to have landed where he did. CJ's always loved the and takes his role as the older brother seriously.

@JayT Thanks, bud. Plenty more to come, CJ and his friends are about to start their senior year at Walls!

@avidreadr Sinatra singing New York, New York is playing in my head as I type away right now. The feelings and images the song evokes are what I try to capture during most of CJ's forays into the City.

@Daddydavek LOL... You're gonna have to wait a few chapters. The birthday celebration will be covered in December but the plans will be revealed in November. I will mention there was an Easter egg hidden in an earlier chapter which might give you a hint.

@Skittles I've always tried to interject a little humor in the story. Seems to me happy characters are much more fun than angs-ridden miserable ones!

@Okiegrad Brett and Cesar don't do things half way. If they're going to take Ritchie in, they're going to treat him as another son!

@Jeff1 LMAO! Ritchie's going to be using those self-examination as an excuse for long showers from now on! The high standard of grammar owes a lot to my editors/betas. I'm okay but my punctuation's not that good so they rescue me. Thunk's not a word which would pop up a lot, but I thought it fit the dialogue well in this case. As for the year moving fast, that's on purpose. I don't like repeating myself so when I've established a certain character, location, or event, I try not revisit in the same way. A quick reference to a physical attribute or the layout of a place should be enough to refresh the reader's mind. With a new school year about to begin, you'll notice some of the events are similar to the preceding year's but hopefully still different enough to keep you interested. Thanks, bud!

@Parker Owens You always manage to pick nuggets hidden in a chapter the way few others do! Thank you. Ezra will make a couple more appearances. Once in Walls and at least once again in the next book. Although he was only recently named, the character has been part of my outline from early on.

@BlindAmbition On December 30, 2016 the Carnegie Deli served it's last pastrami sandwhich and slice of cheesecake. The door closed on a New York institution and I wanted to give the place a shout out. Of course, the fact it fit in with the story made it easy. Chipper being a NYC boy, he would want to take visitors to a City landmark.

@Hlasota Thank you! Thanks for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

@WildcatLes Hey, Les. I didn't want to repeat what I did with Travels which was all about summer trips but I still had to include some sightseeing. I do love to describe locations even if they're based on research instead of personal experiences in some instances. We knew Liz liked CJ but I wanted her to see him interacting with her brother. I'm certain she'll be reporting back to their parents on how well Owen's doing.

@Wesley8890 Glad you liked it, buddy.

@dughlas McNally and I have talked about him joining GA but so far he's turned me down He's read most of CJ and has given me good feedback quite often but he tends to be a binge reader. I don't think he's read much of Walls. Liz will show up again. CJ did promise to take Ritchie to Australia so... The kid may have lost his parents but he stepped into the best possible alternatives. A brother and two adults (plus Ozzie) who love him and will look after him. He may not like politicians a lot right now, but considering the city and his brother's activism, he'll have to learn how to deal with it. And once you're in that world it's hard to pull away. I've been out of the political limelight for years and yet people remember. I recently had a call from someone I've not seen in a decade and ended up agreeing to serve on the host committee for a candidate for mayor of Miami Beach. CJ, and by default those surrounding him, will be in a similar position for a long time to come.

@JeffreyL Hey, Jeff! Almost 200 named characters have appeared in the first six books. About half of them have been 'extras' who go away after they've served their purpose and another quarter have had very limited appearances. Still, that's a heck of a lot of others to work in and I try to do so in a way which makes sense. Whereas the dads' friends played a gigantic role at the beginning, I've allowed them to take a step back and fade a bit as CJ's own friends take more of the spotlight. Maybe one day I'll have time to write some side stories focusing on some of them!

@spikey582 Glad you enjoyed it, bud. I'd say Ethan's definitely a squaddie. Sean I'd consider an associate member mainly because he's not in the same city. Of course once the younger crowd graduates from high school and disperses, things may change. And I'd think the Squad's fluid. Ethan and Tank have joined the group and there may be some leaving. You know, life goes on and all that jazz. Levi was mentioned a couple of times before but this was his longest appearance yet. I have plans for him!

@mollyhousemouse Don't even think about it, Molly. Walk away from the helicopter and the twins will never know. LOL My parents were pretty good about letting me travel while I lived at home. Of course, never anything like CJ! Mine were mostly road trips to Orlando or down to the Florida Keys with friends. But if I had kids of my own I'd encourage them to take as many trips as possible. I think you can learn a heck of a lot by traveling.

@tor200534 Thanks, bud. It's always good to hear from you.

“CJ! Ozzie!” Ajax wrapped his arms around each of the guys, hugging them while holding the door open with a foot for them to enter the building. “It’s so good to have my favorite tenants back in town.” Liz and Ritchie looked at each other and started giggling. “Does this happen everywhere you go, big brother?” the girl asked. “Do people always shout both your names out when they see you?” “Hush, Liz. It’s CJ who gets recognized all the time. Ajax happens to be a friend so I got include

I discovered this feature accidentally and love it. I've already created a couple of banners for a few of the stories in the CJ series and will do the rest this week. And every picture I'm using has been taken by me, Cia. I think I'll give myself permission to use them without charging any money!

Thanks for the quick reply. Let me know if you hear something.

@AC Benus Do you have a date of death for the Dragon?

That was a different and interesting start. Can I assume we'll get to 'listen' to more of the audio blog in coming chapters?

Happy birthday, kiddo! I hope it's a great day and a fantastic year ahead. Thank you for making GA a better place. You're special, bud!

It was just as good the second time around. Thanks for posting the link today.

Such appropriate reading for today. I've had the news on and listened with interest as Trumpcare went down in flames. They should just go to arbitration and have your guys fix what needs fixing and leave the rest alone.